casual cooking and living

Monthly Archives: July 2016

It’s one of my favorite times of year! Farm stands are filled with the freshest local product , picked in the morning and by late afternoon, I have prepared something for dinner. What I most look forward to is the local corn and tomatoes. This is a quick and easy salsa I made marrying my two favorite summer vegetables into a great salsa, dressed with cilantro and lime. This recipe uses fresh raw corn, fresh and sweet, cut from the cob. The recipe works best when the corn is fresh. I like to use heirloom tomatoes if I can find them and then I make a simple dressing which is much like a pesto using cilantro, although basil would work as well. You can serve this with chips along with you evening cocktail or it makes a perfect side dish. Enjoy!

From by the bay wishing you some lovely salsa food memories!

Maryann

Fresh Corn and Tomato Cilantro Salsa

Serves Six

Ingredients

6 ears of corn

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cup cilantro

1/2 cup olive oil

juice and zest of two limes

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Remove silk and husks from corn. Cut corn off cob and place in a medium bowl. Add red onion, tomato and lime zest. In a blender or food processor add garlic, cilantro, honey, jalapeno, olive oil, lime juice , salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Pour over corn and tomatoes and mix well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve at room temperature.

I love how cute pattypan squash looks. I can’t resist food this pretty and cute. So I found myself faced with a bag of pattypan squash along with the question, how should I prepare this sweet little vegetable. My answer was no further than preparing my favorite filling for zucchini flowers and adding an egg and some cheese to make it firmer. A quick bake in the oven and you have the perfect little appetizer. If you find tiny ones the stuffing will fill more than 12 , think of this as a summer version of a stuffed mushroom. Or you can serve slightly larger pattypans on a bed of lightly dressed greens as a first course, or a light summer lunch or dinner. Enjoy!

From by the bay , wishing you cute pattypan food memories!

Maryann

Ricotta Stuffed Pattypan Squash

Serves Six

Ingredients

12 small patty squash

2 tablespoons olive oil

Ingredients for filling

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon mint, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon thai red chili, minced

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 egg

Optional: Dress with additional olive oil and flake sea salt such as Maldon

Directions

To prepare squash rinse and cut off the tops with stem leaving approximately 3/4 of the squash remaining on the bottom. Use a teaspoon and gently scoop the flesh and seeds making a small circular hole. Make sure not to break the remaining outside of the squash. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. In a small bowl mix the ingredients for filling until blended. Brush each squash with olive oil. Place on the foil lined baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use a teaspoon to fill each squash with cheese filling. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for approximately 5 minutes longer to brown the tops of the filled squash. Remove from oven. Serve warm or room temperature on a bed of you favorite lightly dressed greens, such as arugula. Once the pattypans are assembled on the lettuce drizzle lightly with additional olive oil and sprinkle with flake sea salt.

One Monday after a weekend of entertaining I eyed in my fridge some leftover Greek salad I had made using some watermelon along with the traditional tomato and feta cheese. I decided to just blitz the leftovers in the blender resulting in a wonderful combination of flavors. It was a perfect marriage of flavors. I decided to continue to play with the ingredients adding the cucumber and jalapeno as I would in any gazpacho I would make. The cucumbers also help balance the soup from tasting too sweet. You’ll love this recipe. If you are in a rush you can save alot of time by buying your watermelon already cut and ready to go. This is a refreshing dinner for a hot summer evening!

Loving strawberries the way I do , I was looking for ways to extend my enjoyment of our brief strawberry season. Pickled strawberries are a perfect solution. It may sound strange at first but pickled strawberries are the perfect balance of sweet and sour! For my pickled recipe I included some lemon rind for taste and red peppercorns for mild heat and a slight pepper taste. Now you must be wondering where I might use some pickled strawberries here is a list of some of my favorite uses:

chopped into salads

cocktails, such as sangria or champagne cocktail to name a few

a favorite salsa recipe

on top of vanilla ice cream

mixed with stone fruit as a fruit salad or pie filling

flavor a wine vinegar

Great creative and enjoy!

From by the bay , enjoy your pickled food memories!

Maryann

Pickled Strawberries

Ingredients

1poundripe but firm strawberries, hulled, halved if large

4 strips lemon peel

1½cupswhite balsamic vinegar

¼cupnatural cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon pink peppercorns

2tablespoons sea salt

Directions

Remove stems from strawberries. Place strawberries and lemon peel in a 1-qt. heatproof jar. Bring vinegar, sugar, salt, peppercorns, and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt. Pour over strawberries. Let cool; cover and chill. The strawberries will keep 5 days in the refrigerator.